Post by MizzouTiger on Feb 15, 2008 12:58:27 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/sports/story/490789.html
Kansas dealing with a recent lack of toughness
By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star
LAWRENCE | Larry Brown’s presence inside Allen Fieldhouse couldn’t have been better-timed.
The guy who taught the Detroit Pistons — and long before that, the Kansas Jayhawks — how to “go to work” was in town for this weekend’s 110-year celebration of KU basketball. Brown stopped in Thursday afternoon to watch practice, and the No. 3 basketball team in the land just happened to be trying to develop a lunch-pail mentality for its stretch run.
In its 72-69 loss at Texas on Monday night, KU went to work for only one half. The Jayhawks outrebounded the Longhorns 23-13 in the first half, only to see that margin flipped around 23-12 in the opponent’s favor in the final 20 minutes. The disparity was enough for KU coach Bill Self to say his team was “outmanned.” And on Thursday, Self dropped the dreaded “T” word on his 23-2 team.
“The second half, the way we rebounded the ball, showed a lack of toughness,” Self said. “For whatever reason, we didn’t hit anybody on a blockout. We didn’t attack the ball at its peak. We did not make tough plays. That’s the thing that’s most frustrating to me because that should be a thing that you should be able to pencil in every night.”
It’s certainly no coincidence that Kansas has lost the battle on the glass and for loose balls in both of its losses. In both the Kansas State and Texas defeats, the Jayhawks played good defense on the opponent’s star player. K-State’s Michael Beasley had only 25 points, and Texas’ D.J. Augustin shot one of 13 from the field. But too many times, KU couldn’t get enough bodies on everybody else.
Who knows if Self pulled Brown aside on Thursday and asked him the secret of getting guys to embrace a workmanlike persona. Self says that he has done things in the past like putting guys in helmets and pads during practice, but he doesn’t think the situation calls for that.
“I’m not sure that makes you tougher,” Self said, “but I think that guys start thinking they’re tougher.”
Coaching toughness would seem a pretty, well, tough thing to pull off. How do you teach a guy to be tougher?
“You can do it by demanding certain things every single possession,” Self said. “Flinching when you go after balls … not tough. Go set a screen and a guy hits you and he displaces you … that’s not tough. Guy hits you on a blockout and he displaces you … that’s not tough. There’s a lot of things that go into being tough.
“And you have to try to coach it, because if you don’t have it, you’re not going to go anywhere. Some people have it, but I’ve never coached a guy that couldn’t get tougher. The toughest guys can always get tougher.”
The Kansas players agree with Self. Center Sasha Kaun thinks it’s more mental than physical. Point guard Russell Robinson thinks it’s a matter of elevating your game when it counts.
“I think we’re a tough team overall,” Robinson said, “but when times get really tough, we gotta take it to another notch, and we haven’t done that in our two losses.”
Self was asked whether there was one player on his team who excels at being tough, and he didn’t much like the implication.
“This has been made way too big a deal,” Self said. “Who on our team is not tough? That should be the question. Because everybody on our team is tough. We didn’t play tough one night. We should be able to say what we didn’t do well one night. We did not play tough on the glass one night. That does not mean we have soft guys. You can not tell me over time that we don’t have tough guys. As tough as anybody.”
Kansas dealing with a recent lack of toughness
By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star
LAWRENCE | Larry Brown’s presence inside Allen Fieldhouse couldn’t have been better-timed.
The guy who taught the Detroit Pistons — and long before that, the Kansas Jayhawks — how to “go to work” was in town for this weekend’s 110-year celebration of KU basketball. Brown stopped in Thursday afternoon to watch practice, and the No. 3 basketball team in the land just happened to be trying to develop a lunch-pail mentality for its stretch run.
In its 72-69 loss at Texas on Monday night, KU went to work for only one half. The Jayhawks outrebounded the Longhorns 23-13 in the first half, only to see that margin flipped around 23-12 in the opponent’s favor in the final 20 minutes. The disparity was enough for KU coach Bill Self to say his team was “outmanned.” And on Thursday, Self dropped the dreaded “T” word on his 23-2 team.
“The second half, the way we rebounded the ball, showed a lack of toughness,” Self said. “For whatever reason, we didn’t hit anybody on a blockout. We didn’t attack the ball at its peak. We did not make tough plays. That’s the thing that’s most frustrating to me because that should be a thing that you should be able to pencil in every night.”
It’s certainly no coincidence that Kansas has lost the battle on the glass and for loose balls in both of its losses. In both the Kansas State and Texas defeats, the Jayhawks played good defense on the opponent’s star player. K-State’s Michael Beasley had only 25 points, and Texas’ D.J. Augustin shot one of 13 from the field. But too many times, KU couldn’t get enough bodies on everybody else.
Who knows if Self pulled Brown aside on Thursday and asked him the secret of getting guys to embrace a workmanlike persona. Self says that he has done things in the past like putting guys in helmets and pads during practice, but he doesn’t think the situation calls for that.
“I’m not sure that makes you tougher,” Self said, “but I think that guys start thinking they’re tougher.”
Coaching toughness would seem a pretty, well, tough thing to pull off. How do you teach a guy to be tougher?
“You can do it by demanding certain things every single possession,” Self said. “Flinching when you go after balls … not tough. Go set a screen and a guy hits you and he displaces you … that’s not tough. Guy hits you on a blockout and he displaces you … that’s not tough. There’s a lot of things that go into being tough.
“And you have to try to coach it, because if you don’t have it, you’re not going to go anywhere. Some people have it, but I’ve never coached a guy that couldn’t get tougher. The toughest guys can always get tougher.”
The Kansas players agree with Self. Center Sasha Kaun thinks it’s more mental than physical. Point guard Russell Robinson thinks it’s a matter of elevating your game when it counts.
“I think we’re a tough team overall,” Robinson said, “but when times get really tough, we gotta take it to another notch, and we haven’t done that in our two losses.”
Self was asked whether there was one player on his team who excels at being tough, and he didn’t much like the implication.
“This has been made way too big a deal,” Self said. “Who on our team is not tough? That should be the question. Because everybody on our team is tough. We didn’t play tough one night. We should be able to say what we didn’t do well one night. We did not play tough on the glass one night. That does not mean we have soft guys. You can not tell me over time that we don’t have tough guys. As tough as anybody.”